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Conversations Review | A Look at the Course Series from Olly Richards of I Will Teach You a Language

After studying Croatian, Japanese has been a big change. And not for the most obvious reasons. While the languages are very different in terms of vocabulary, grammar, and how far removed they are from my native language, none of these things are what made learning the languages difficult.

With Croatian, one of my biggest challenges was finding resources, while with Japanese, there are plenty of tools to choose from. This meant that my biggest challenge was often figuring out which were the right fit.

In the past, I’ve shared how too much choice can be bad news for language learners. Trying out different resources and never really giving yourself the chance to go deep with those that you use can quickly become a huge time suck.

I want to save you some of that time, so as a part of my Japanese learning project, I want to share the resources that I’ve found value in. In doing so, I hope to help you more quickly discover the best Japanese language resources for you.

The Conversation-Based Approach to Learning Japanese

Japanese is the second language I’ve taken on where my focus is 100% on conversation (Spanish was the first). I plan to eventually dive deep with the language, but in contrast to the other languages I’ve learned, I’ve spent lots of time up front trying to speak and understand. Figuring out how to read and write is second, and so far, I’ve only picked up what I need in order to support my speaking and listening comprehension.

So far, this approach has worked extremely well for me. After only a few months, my Japanese comprehension and speaking are at a much higher level than some of my other languages were after years of study.

This means, that when I choose resources, I look for materials that help me develop my speaking and comprehension skills.

This search led me to Olly Richards’ Conversations course.

I Will Teach You a Language

Olly Richards is the language learner, teacher and podcaster behind I Will Teach You a Language. He started learning languages at the age of nineteen, and has since produced a number of language learning products and articles teach other learners the techniques he’s developed along the way.

Conversations is one of the many results of his experience.

On his blog, Olly has shared his thoughts on how important working with dialogues is when tackling a language. In his words, “dialogues are a staple of language study”. https://www.iwillteachyoualanguage.co...

Unfortunately, most course books bury these highly valuable dialogues in the middle of complex grammar explanations and other unrelated exercises. Not to mention, they’re often built around conversations you’re not likely to have and the language is often unnatural and not at all similar to how the language is used in everyday life.

Conversations

Conversations is a series of courses for Japanese, French, Italian, Spanish, Chinese and German. There is also a Cantonese Conversations, though this particular course is a little different from the others.

Each of the Conversations courses includes twenty total dialogues, each between two to four minutes in length. Additionally, Olly includes is Listening Skills Masterclass, a detailed video on how to get the most out of the course (and become better at using audio resources).

Each lesson includes a brief summary in English, so you get a bit of context before diving into the dialogue. There is then a vocabulary section, followed by an English translation of the dialogue.

The dialogues within conversations are on a wide range of everyday topics that might come up when living in or traveling to the country where your target language is spoken. The audio is recorded by native speakers and is great quality. Plus, the voice artists speak at a speed that isn’t too fast or too slow. It’s just the right speed to push your listening comprehension.

The attention to detail in this course is top notch. For example, even when you drill down into something like names of the characters, they are unique. Something that’s important so that you don’t confuse them as you’re working through the material.

With Conversations, you really have everything that you need to do some intensive listening comprehension study.

Japanese Conversations Review

The course is definitely geared towards intermediate learners and requires that you have a decent reading ability in the language. It uses kanji + kana, but includes furigana. This can be a challenge to beginning learners, but my personal philosophy is that learning the writing system of a language is important. So this resource certainly challenges you to take that initiative if you haven’t already done so.

When I first opened up the first Conversations dialogue and turned on the audio, I must admit that I was overwhelmed. With just shy of two months of Japanese under my belt, I didn’t understand the majority of the first lesson.

Rather than set it aside until I had truly “arrived” at the intermediate stage, however, I decided to dive in.

With a resource like Conversations, how you use it is pretty open-ended. Olly does suggest following his five step listening process, but with where I was at, I figured I could do more.

I decided to work from the ground up.

First, I went through the vocabulary lists at the end of each lesson, adding the phrases I found useful to my flashcards. I made a commitment to studying them daily so that they would become more and more familiar, breaking down some of the barriers between me and the complete dialogues.

This resource is fantastic and definitely something that I can come back to as I progress in my Japanese studies. It’s definitely not a one-time use resource. As my level in the language improves, I can use this resource in a variety of ways.

For example, I can use the course with the audio and the scripts together, alternating between listening to the Japanese while following along with the English or while following along with the Japanese. Doing these two exercises will boost my reading comprehension as well as listening comprehension.

I can also try out the following practice:

Shadowing // While listening to the audio, I can read along out loud or just listen and aim to repeat what I hear.
Audio only // Listening to the audio alone without the aid of the transcriptions to test how much I understand.
Reading practice // I can use the transcripts alone to work on reading.
Transcripts + Audio // I can use the course as detailed by Olly in his five step method.

Things That Could Be Better

While the conversations are far more natural and practical when compared with more traditional course book dialogues, the vocabulary, at times, could still be a little more useful.

For example, in the first dialogue, one of the characters (in the Japanese version of the course) is looking for a drill. For me, personally, this isn’t really a word I imagine myself needing to know in any language beyond English, so the character looking for a different item would have been more useful to me.

There is also a lot of discussion about exercise. Tennis, muscle building, and running are covered across several different dialogues. And while I may discuss exercise every so often, having it covered this much seems a bit much for my personal taste.

Things That I Love About Conversations

It saves you from doing some of the “administrative” work. If you’re interested in working with audio, Olly’s saved you a ton of work by putting Conversations together. You no longer have to spend loads of time 1) finding relevant audio material; 2) having to isolate the useful dialogue from the rest of the audio; 3) transcribing it yourself or pay someone to transcribe it; 4) looking up the important words and phrases; and 5) having to have the work double-checked. Instead, you can focus on the important part – studying.

The material will last you a while. If you really dive deep with Conversations, it’s learning material that can grow with you as your comprehension increases and the dialogues become more familiar.

Stories stick with us. In the past, knowledge and lessons were primarily passed down through stories. Stories and poems were as memorable then as they are now. Because the dialogues are based on the stories of these characters in Japan (or wherever depending on the language), the material is more likely to stick with you.

In Conclusion

I’d love to see a version of this course built for those who learn languages from home. There is a lot of potential for a version of the course like this, particularly because the vocabulary surrounding language exchanges, Skype conversations, and getting to know someone from another country while at home would be useful to a lot of learners.

That said, overall, Conversations is a solid product. It’s great for intermediate learners and ambitious advanced beginners. There are a lot of different ways you can work with the material, so even with twenty dialogues, you can get a lot of use out of Conversations. Recommended.

Conversations is available for:

Japanese
French
Italian
Spanish
German
Chinese
Cantonese

The post Conversations Review | A Look at the Course Series from Olly Richards of I Will Teach You a Language appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Chinatown | Things to Do In & Around Singapore

Located within the Outram district in Singapore is Chinatown, or 牛车水 niú chē shuǐ, as it’s known to locals. 

The Singapore Chinatown is made up of four distinct areas, each developed over different times between the 1820s – 1920s. They are Telok Ayer, Kreta Ayer, Bukit Pasoh, and Tanjong Pagar. Each has its own history and is inspiring to explore.

Upon exiting the metro, you’re greeting with a flurry of activity. There are shops, food vendors, and a mix of both tourists and locals. 

We were hungry, so I stopped to get a pumpkin flavored steamed bun while my friend picked up dried meat. We split our food and continued to explore. 

The shopping and dining options are almost overwhelming. As we passed shops selling books and toys, I was spoiled for choice and had to mentally calculate just how many books I could manage carrying back home for Little Linguist in my luggage.

The answer? Not enough.

 

A post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste) on Sep 26, 2017 at 4:52am PDT

We did a bit of shopping. It was a great area to pick up gifts to bring back to friends and family back home. A sudden but short rainstorm interrupted our wandering, so we stopped in at a local tea shop for snacks and tea before heading back out. Thankfully, you could walk through many of the shops through a small covered hallway that ran between them, so we were able to continue browsing the local wares without being too bothered by the on and off rain. 

Finally, after we had decided we had enough and that the day was well spent, we picked up noodles to take back to our hotel for dinner. 

What about you ?

Have you explored an “ethnic enclave” in your travels?

What did you think? What did you most enjoy? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

The post Chinatown | Things to Do In & Around Singapore appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

All Documented Language Learning Projects on Eurolinguiste

Over the years, I’ve had the opportunity to complete a variety of language learning projects. I’ve documented many of these, but before now, they weren’t easy to locate of follow.

Now, you can find all of my documented language learning projects in one place.

Learning Mandarin Chinese to Pass the HSK 4 Exam

Speak from Day 1
Speak from Day 2 
My First Experiences Using Mandarin Chinese
Instagram Language Challenge Compilation
Things I’ve Learned Watching Mandarin Language Television
A Collection of Tips & Resources for the HSK Exam
A Simplified Guide to Chinese Measure Words
How I Memorized 600 Chinese Words in 2 Weeks

Bonus: 100+ Conversational Words & Phrases in Chinese

Learning Russian

The Russian Alphabet
Cases: What This Word Means for Language Learners
How to Learn a Writing System Different From Your Own
Language Laddering

Korean Language Project with Lindsay Does Languages

Learning the Korean Alphabet
Korean Language Challenge Biweekly Update #1
Korean Video Update
Korean Dining Etiquette & Vocabulary
Korean Video Update
Korean Snacks
Korean Video Update
My Favorite Korean Learning Resources (so far)

Bonus: 100+ Conversational Words & Phrases in Korean and Video

Italian Language Refresh

My 3 Day Italian Refresh
Day 1 Video
Day 2 Video
Day 3 Video

Learning Spanish

Language Hacking Day 1
Language Hacking Day 2
Language Hacking Day 3
Language Hacking Day 4
Language Hacking Day 5
Language Hacking Day 6
Language Hacking Day 7
Language Hacking Day 8
A Review of Baselang
Baselang Result Video

Croatian for the Add1Challenge

Application Video
Day 0 Video
Day 30 Video
Cases in Croatian: A Free Worksheet
How the Serbian Alphabet Differs from the Russian Alphabet, and Croatian from English
Day 90 Take 1 Video
Day 90 Take 2 Video

Bonus: 100+ Conversational Words & Phrases in Croatian

What about you?

I’d love to hear about your language projects in the comments below. 

The post All Documented Language Learning Projects on Eurolinguiste appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Doors & Doorways in Singapore

Whenever I travel, I find that the things I photograph the most are architecture and doors. I never really considered myself much of an architechture buff, but when I look back at my photos, I find that I’m apparently much more interested in it than I realized. 

It’s amazing what we humans can create.

And there’s just something about how the creative and practical aspects come together in architecture that just fascinates me. 

In Singapore, I was greeted with amazing architectural diversity. 

There were the traditional Malay houses, the art deco influenced buildings, colonial civic, and even post-modern architecture. And something that I didn’t know, but learned after my trip to Singapore, is that much of the architecture is built with its tropical climate in mind. Rather than focusing on glass walls which trap heat, they aim to build sun-shielding living and workplaces. 

You have everything from these epic skyscrapers to these gorgeous old shophouses. From traditional places of worship to distinctive structures like the Marina Bay Sands. Whether your eyes turn skyward or straight ahead, there’s definitely architectural eye candy within view.

In particular, I enjoyed Singapore’s shophouses. Especially those near Orchard Road, one of the main shopping areas. And of course, as I’m sure you can guess, the doors and entryways to these homes really stood out to me. I loved the double door style most, but there were certainly other doorways that stood out to me during the trip. 

Here are just a few of my favorite snaps of doors and doorways in Singapore.

What about you?

What are some of the things you most like to photograph when you travel?

Do you enjoy architecture as much as I do?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

The post Doors & Doorways in Singapore appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

100+ Useful Conversational Words & Phrases in Japanese

Are you thinking about learning Japanese but find yourself struggling to find resources that help you start speaking?

When I started out, I certainly did.

Many of the tools that I found when I started learning Japanese were grammar-heavy textbook style resources and they didn’t offer me a lot in terms of day-to-day conversation. Rather than learning how to say “what did you do last weekend?” I had memorized a bunch of rules involving particles or sentence structure and I was nowhere near conversing with my fellow Japanese speakers.

So I decided to put something together on my own so that I could feel more confident engaging in language exchanges.

And today, I’d like to share it with you.

In this post you’ll find a short selection of the 100+ conversational phrases and words in Japanese I have available as part of a downloadable PDF that you can get by entering your email in the box below.

Happy French language learning!

Get your free PDF with 100+ Conversational French Words and Phrases
Get the PDF
Greetings




English


Japanese


Transliteration



Hello/Good day
こんにちは
konnichiwa


Hello (on the phone/Skype)
もしもし
moshi moshi


How are you?
おげんきですか？
ogenki desu ka?>


I’m good.
げんきです
genki desu


Long time no see.
おしゃしぶりです
oshashiburidesu



Basic & Polite Phrases




English


Japanese


Transliteration



Please
おねがいします
onegaishimasu


Thank you so much
どうもありがとうございま
doumo arigatou gozaimasu


Excuse me
すみません
sumimasen


I’m sorry
ごめんなさい
gomennasai


You’re welcome
どういたしまして
douitashimashite



Get the Conversation Rolling




English


Japanese


Transliteration



Are you busy now?
いまいそがしいですか？
ima isogashii desu ka?


What are you plans this weekend?
こんしゅうまつよていがありますか？
konshuumatsu yotei ga arimasu ka?


How is your family?
かぞくのみなさんわいかがですか？
Kazoku no minasan wa ikaga desu ka?


Tell me about yourself
じこしょうかいをおねがいします
jiko shoukai o onegaishimasu


What do you think?
どうおもいますか?
dou omoimasu ka?



Getting a Bit of Clarification




English


Japanese


Transliteration



How do you say that in English?
それわえいごでなんといいますか？
sore wa eigo de nanto iimasu ka?


I don’t understand.
わかりません
wakarimasen


I forgot
わすれました
wasuremashita


I don’t know.
しりません
shirimasen


Can you please say it slowly?
もとゆっくりはんして?
moto yukkuri hanshite?



Words About Time




English


Japanese


Transliteration



Every day
まいにち
mai nichi


Sometimes
じじ
jiji


Now
いま
ima


Later
あとで
atode


Maybe
たぶん
tabun



Exclamations & Transition Words to Take Your Speaking to the Next Level




English


Japanese


Transliteration



That’s a good question
それはよいしつもんですね
Sore wa yoishitsu mondesu ne


Alright
だいじょうぶ
daijoubu


Wait a moment
ちょっとまってください
chotto matte kudasai


Don’t worry
くよくよするな
kuyokuyo suru na


Oops
おっとっと
ottotto



Conversation Closers




English


Japanese


Transliteration



Thank you for your time
おいそがしいところありがとうございました
o isogashii tokoro arigatou gozaimashita


see you later
じゃあまた
jaa mata


see you
またね
matane


Goodbye
さようなら
sayounara

*Please note that most of the above examples use formal language, assuming that you’re getting to know the person that you’re speaking with. 

Get your free PDF with 100+ Conversational Japanese Words and Phrases
Get the PDF

Are you learning Japanese? What are some phrases that you’ve found useful in your target language? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!

The post 100+ Useful Conversational Words & Phrases in Japanese appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Clear The List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | March

This month, there is something happening that I’m so excited about. It’s… Women in Language. 

I’m over the moon about it because: 

It’s the first time I’ve ever organized a language event and the experience has been amazing.
I’ve been able to chat and plan with two of my language besties (Lindsay Williams and Kerstin Cable) the last few months.
It showcases more than 25 talented and inspiring female speakers.
I get to spend an entire four days in March nerding out over language with some amazing people.
And… you’re invited to join us.

If you haven’t already picked up a ticket, you can check it out here. Plus, 10% of all proceeds go to Kiva, so you’ll support entrepreneurs across the globe!

And there was one more item for me this month…

My new course with Fluent in 3 Months, The Courage to Speak, opened. I’m excited to work with a new group of students!

On to #clearthelist

If you’re new around these parts, #clearthelist is a linkup where we share our monthly goals, and by we, I mean myself, and Lindsay of Lindsay Does Languages.

We’d absolutely love for you to a part of our community. You can join us by adding a link to your own goal post below.

So let’s get started, sharing our goals and motivating one another to #clearthelist!

Please feel free to tag your posts or photos with either #clearthelist on your favorite social media channels!

Last Month’s Highlights on Instagram

 

A post shared by Shannon Kennedy (@eurolinguiste) on Jan 30, 2018 at 8:59am PST

Last Month’s Blog Highlights
Travel

14 Things to Do at the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore // While in Singapore, I stayed at the Marina Bay Sands to experience as much as the hotel had to offer. And boy there was a lot. Here are just 14 of the things you can do.

Gardens by the Bay // A beautiful area to explore in Singapore with two enclosed gardens and a skywalk.

 

Language Learning

The Ultimate Guide to Japanese Writing Systems // What I’ve learned about hiragana, katakana and kanji + a free worksheet to help you master the Japanese writing systems.

Doing More in Your Studies with Less // Ways that I’ve minimized my language learning routines to get better results.

Last Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // Yes! I learned the words for almost every vehicle I could possibly think of because it’s a hot item on Little Linguist’s list. Now I need to work on sea creatures.

Read the next Language Reading Challenge book on my list. // Yes, February book read with review coming soon!

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I had another month where I added more than I watched, but it’s still a yes because I did watch a few videos.

Read something in Chinese, French, and/or Spanish and Russian. // Yeah, no. But I did do some Japanese reading on LingQ, so does that count?

Finish distilling my Japanese notes. // I used my plane flights to and from Texas to get this done!

Add1Challenge Month 2 // January was my first month of the Add1Challenge with Japanese. I still have a long way to go to get to a 15-minute conversation, so I want to focus on this more in the coming month.

This Month’s Goals

Continue filling the gaps in my Mandarin vocabulary I’ve noticed since Little Linguist’s arrival. // A permanent item on my monthly list.

Read the next Language Reading Challenge book on my list. // In March, we’re reading a translation (something translated into your target language). I’m still not anywhere near being able to read in Japanese, so I’ll probably choose something in Chinese.

Keep working through my YouTube Queue.  // I still have way too many amazing videos on my list. Like… 800.

Meet my daily goal on LingQ for Japanese. // I’ll get back to reading in my other languages after this Add1Challenge is over. Speaking of which…

Add1Challenge Month 3 // I’m starting to get into challenging territory with Japanese and if I weren’t doing an intensive language project, I’d probably take a brief break to come back to it with fresh eyes. But, with the Add1Challenge this isn’t an option, so it will be interesting to see how pushing through works for me.

Resources I Used This Month

A quick recap on the materials I am using.

What I Am Using to Learn Chinese

LingQ – my favourite tool
iTalki Lessons – I have weekly Chinese lessons
Memrise – I do 18,000 points minimum per day 

What I’m Using to Brush Up/Improve My French:

LingQ
Immersion (we speak franglais at home)
Reading books written by French authors
Listening to French radio/podcasts
Lingoci

What I am Using to Learn Russian:

LingQ
Perfectionnement Russe
iTalki Lessons
Memrise
Pimsleur

What I am Using to Learn Korean:

I am on a break from Korean

What I am Using to Learn Spanish:

LingQ
Coffee Break Spanish
Schaum’s Spanish Grammar
News in Slow Spanish
Baselang

What I’m Using to Learn Japanese:

Lingualift
Memrise
iTalki Lessons
Pimsleur

What I’m Using for Little Linguist

Pooh Bear and Baby Bear
Little Pim
Finding Dory, Cars and other films/tv shows
Day-to-day interaction

Resources That Aren’t Language Specific

Women in Language!

The Biggest Lesson I Am Taking Away from This Month

Resistance can be a positive thing. As I get farther into my Japanese studies, I’m experiencing some resistance and as an exercise, I’m reacting to it differently than I normally would. I haven’t gotten to the other end of it, so I can’t say what my results will be. But already, I feel myself overcoming some of the hurdles I experienced at this same stage with Korean. And because of this, I feel I might be ready to go back to Korean in the near future.

You never stop learning about yourself.

Don’t forget that I would love to hear all about your goals for this month! Please join us by adding your post to the linkup below! 

Clear The List Linkup Rules:

1. Share your goal post whether it includes your aspirations for the month or year. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted.

2. Link back to this post. You can use our button if you wish.

3. Follow the hosts: Lindsay from Lindsay Does Languages and Shannon from Eurolinguiste.

4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Please visit the site of the person who linked up immediately before you and leave them an encouraging comment! By hosting this linkup, we’re hoping to create a positive community where we can all share our goals. If you do not do this, you will be removed from the linkup.

5. Share on social media using #ClearTheList

An InLinkz Link-up

The post Clear The List | Monthly Language Learning Strategies Update | March appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Join Me at Women in Language: A New Online Event for People Passionate About Languages

As a musician, I’m used to being in circumstances where I’m the only girl. While there are more and more female musicians entering the ranks, it’s still pretty unusual. In a way, this has become “normal” for me.

When I entered the language learning space and many of the well-known figures and speakers were men, it didn’t strike me as unusual.

But much like in music, as I started attending more events, entering more discussion forums, and sharing what I do, I came to realize that there are a lot of women in language doing amazing things.

Two of these women, Lindsay Williams and Kerstin Cable, have become close friends. And they too have met tons of inspiring polyglots, educators, and enthusiasts with incredible stories.

So we decided to team up to give them a place to share their stories.

There are a lot of conversations about language learning and teaching that don’t happen as often as they should.

How do you continue your language studies when you’re busy with kids?
How do you experience immersion when you’re studying a language spoken in a country where women’s rights are limited?
How do you stay motivated when dealing with something like postpartum depression? Or pregnancy fatigue?
How important are BOTH parents’ roles in a child’s language development (we usually only see one side of the discussion)?
How do you enter a sphere filled with those living a nomadic lifestyle? What about those with a 9-5? How are they fitting language in?
What do you do when your language exchange partners just all seem to want to hit on you?
How can you avoid feeling intimidated when you attend a language gathering or meet up and you’re the only female in the room?

While these conversations do happen, in part, they’re often not easy to find. And when you do find them, if you’re anything like me, you’re afraid to join in or even initiate a discussion because you’re worried you’ll be judged or criticized.

And when the conversation is mostly online (and with language learning that seems to be the case), things can head south quickly.

Meet Women in Language, a New Event

With Women in Language, our goal is to provide a welcoming community to bring conversations beyond where they are today. The discussions going on in the language world are fantastic, and our goal is to continue to add to them, bring in new voices, and take them to new places.

We’ve chosen to do so with an all-female lineup of speakers. Not because we want to exclude men, in fact, men are very welcome at the event! But because we want to offer new perspectives, to give those who haven’t really had the chance to showcase their experience to do so, and to talk about language in new contexts.

Because women’s issues are human issues. And topics that may have historically been reserved as ‘girl talk’, need to become just ‘talk’.

Men are parents, too. Men are also present in settings where women are the minority. Inviting them in rather than isolating them would be a benefit to both. Not all men desire to chase after a nomadic lifestyle. And men play a critical role supporting their partners as they experience things like pregnancy, postpartum, and harassment.

But even in the more traditional language discussions, women have a lot to add.

As Lindsay said beautifully in her post, “Not every female around the world would feel confident enough to put herself and her language learning out there for all the world to see.” 

So what exactly is this Women in Language event?

Women In Language is a unique online event designed to champion, celebrate, and amplify the voices of women in language learning.

This is a new event in 2018 so we’re really excited about the potential impact of Women In Language.

We’ve gathered an inspiring all-female lineup of over 25 speakers who are experts from all walks of language life: polyglots, industry veterans, full-time world travelers, teaching experts, academic professors, and innovators.

Presentations are themed on four key areas:

Starting Languages – perfect if you’re just in the early stages and need a leg up to learn languages better on your own
Mastering Languages – exactly what you need if you’ve already studied a couple of languages or one to a reasonable level and you’re ready to take things further
Living with Languages – a great range of presentations about language in your everyday life. From positive language learning for kids to living abroad
Working with Languages – curious about the various ways you can bring languages into your working life? There’s plenty here for you too

Why should I attend this event?

By attending Women In Language, you’re aligning yourself with a positive message that shows you support a diversity of voices in language. This is a strong message that can only have a ‘ripple effect’ to increase the diversity of public-facing language folk in the future.

Secondly, all the presentations are live, not pre-recorded, meaning that you’ve got the benefit of being able to ask questions and share your own opinions and thoughts in the discussion for each presentation.

Finally, you’ll also receive recordings of the presentations, a digital notebook for the event, and access to a private Facebook Group before, during and for 6 weeks after the event.

And finally, with 10% of profits from ticket sales going to Kiva, a charity supporting international entrepreneurs, you know you’re helping aspiring entrepreneurs across the world.

When is the event?

The Women in Language online event starts March 8 and ends March 11. However, when you purchase your ticket, you get access to the video replays so that you can watch them at your convenience.

Ok, I’m sold. How do I enroll?

Click here to enroll and then here’s what happens next…

1. You click “Register” above and are taken to the checkout.

2. Once you’ve purchased your ticket, we’ll send you an email right away with details about the event and your free Women In Language Calendar so you don’t miss your favorite talk.

3. You get ready to join us when Women In Language kicks off on 8th March!

Is this event just for women?

Nope! This event is for you if…

You are learning a language at any level (or want to) and would love to hear some expert voices discuss topics to help you go further and do more with your languages
You work with languages (or want to) within any capacity and enjoy hearing different perspectives and knowledge on working with languages
You live abroad (or want to!) and are keen to learn about the experiences and tips of others in your shoes
You want to learn from a broad range of female voices within language learning.

I’m a man/gender non-binary/I don’t identify as a woman. Can I still attend?

Absolutely. This is an event designed to showcase some of the many women doing many amazing things in the world of languages. That means that although the speakers are all female, the audience is definitely not. In fact, we encourage you to attend regardless of your gender. It’s important everyone sees how much awesome stuff is being done by women in language.

What if I can’t attend the talks live?

No problem! You will have lifetime access to all the talks after the event so can catch up as and when suits you. Also, before, during, and for the 6 weeks following the event, you will have free access to the Women In Language Facebook Group that will be a place you can ask questions to Kerstin, Lindsay, me, and even some of the speakers at the event. So you won’t be left behind!

You aren’t going to just talk about kids and stuff, are you?

Nope! Those were just examples of some of the discussions that are often “off the table”. We’re going to talk about all things language from a female perspective.We do have speakers who will talk about raising multilingual children, but men will find equal value in these lectures.

Sign me up!

Tickets for the 2018 event cost $29 and will only be available for purchase before and during the event. That’s just over a dollar per speaker!

Oh, and it goes without saying, men (and anyone else who doesn’t identify as a woman) are not only welcome to attend Women In Language, but encouraged to do so.

The event is of interest to anyone who loves language, regardless of your gender.

To learn more about the presentations and the speakers, click here to get your ticket.

See you there!

TL;DR?

Women In Language is a brand new live online event. Over 25 speakers. 4 days. 1 unforgettable showcase of awesome women doing amazing things in language.

I hope you’re feeling inspired and looking forward to Women In Language! It’s going to be a blast! Have you got your ticket?

Which talks are you looking forward to most?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments.

The post Join Me at Women in Language: A New Online Event for People Passionate About Languages appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Gardens by the Bay | Things to Do In & Around Singapore

One of the most awe-inspiring adventures I had in Singapore was my trip to the Gardens by the Bay. Particularly upon entering the Cloud Forest, a cooled dome conservatory with an incredible design.

The Gardens by the Bay spans 250 acres of reclaimed land near the Marina Reservoir and serves to enhance life with added gardens and greenery around the city. The area is currently comprised of three main areas – Bay East Garden, Bay Central Garden and Bay South Garden. The Bay South Garden is where the majority of the attractions are located.

The Bay South Garden at Gardens By the Bay

In the Bay South Garden, you can visit the two conservatories (the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome), the Supertree Grove, the Children’s Garden and other themed gardens. Each of these areas has an entry fee, though some of the other gardens are free to visit.

While there, we decided to visit the OCBC Skywalk in the Supertree Grove area, the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome. 

Other attractions include: 

DragonFly & Kingfisher Lakes
Heritage Gardens
World of Plants
The Canyon
Sun Pavilion
Art Sculptures

In total, after walking the three exhibits we attended and a few other areas, we spend around four hours exploring. Visiting the domes was a nice way to escape the heat for a brief time.

The Cloud Forest

The Cloud Forest is the smaller of the two domes, and at its center, it features a structure with gorgeous waterfalls and plant life. The path is laid out so that it’s easy to follow – it takes you from the falls to through the main garden and up to the Lost World, the Cloud Walk, the Treetop Walk, and then back down to the Crystal Mountain. Finally, you visit the Secret Garden on your way out. This was hands down my favorite of the locations that we visited. I loved everything from the Lego plant sculptures, to the Jurassic Park-style displays, to the teeny-tiny orchids that were visible through magnifying lenses. 

The Flower Dome

In comparison to the Cloud Forest, the Flower Dome is much larger, though the displays are spread out horizontally rather than the vertical arrangement in the Cloud Forest. Both locations have breathtaking wood sculptures, but the dragon in the Flower Dome was certainly my favourite. The flower dome has diplays organized by region. There’s the Meditteranean Garden, the California Garden, the Succulent Garden, the Australian Garden, the South African Garden, and the South American Garden. There’s also an Olive Garden, a Flower Field, and a Baobab tree area. 

The OCBC Skywalk

The OCBC Skywalk is a 128-meter walk 22-meters above the ground. The walk gives you a view of the gardens and the bay, but because we did this during the afternoon, we missed out on getting to see the spectacular light show that they put on at night. 

Depending on what you do in the gardens, your trip can either be 100% free or rather expensive. Entry into each of the domes has its own fee as does the Supertree Grove. Honestly, the Cloud Forest was my favorite of the three exhibits we visited, so I definitely felt it was worth the cost. The other two, however, I definitely could have skipped. You can get much better views of Singapore elsewhere (the Supertree Grove is a short walk and the views are just okay) and the Flower Dome, while it had an amazingly diverse collection of plant life just didn’t seem as impressive as the Cloud Forest.

Pro Tips for Visiting the Gardens by the Bay

Bring plenty of water – depending on how much you explore/wander the area, you’ll experience pretty warm weather, be sure to stay hydrated
Wear comfortable shoes – you’ll do plenty of walking!
Dress comfortably – and note that some of the walkways are mesh metal, so there will be people under you
Plan for about half a day – or a few hours to really explore

Gardens by the Bay

18 Marina Gardens Drive

Singapore 018953

What about you?

What parks or gardens have you visited in your travels?

I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.

The post Gardens by the Bay | Things to Do In & Around Singapore appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Gardens by the Bay

One of the most awe-inspiring adventures I had in Singapore was my trip to the Gardens by the Bay. Particularly upon entering the Cloud Forest, a cooled dome conservatory with an incredible design.

The Gardens by the Bay spans 250 acres of reclaimed land near the Marina Reservoir and serves to enhance life with added gardens and greenery around the city. The area is currently comprised of three main areas – Bay East Garden, Bay Central Garden and Bay South Garden. The Bay South Garden is where the majority of the attractions are located.

The Bay South Garden at Gardens By the Bay

In the Bay South Garden, you can visit the two conservatories (the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome), the Supertree Grove, the Children’s Garden and other themed gardens. Each of these areas has an entry fee, though some of the other gardens are free to visit.

While there, we decided to visit the OCBC Skywalk in the Supertree Grove area, the Cloud Forest and the Flower Dome. 

Other attractions include: 

DragonFly & Kingfisher Lakes
Heritage Gardens
World of Plants
The Canyon
Sun Pavilion
Art Sculptures

In total, after walking the three exhibits we attended and a few other areas, we spend around four hours exploring. Visiting the domes was a nice way to escape the heat for a brief time.

The Cloud Forest

The Cloud Forest is the smaller of the two domes, and at its center, it features a structure with gorgeous waterfalls and plant life. The path is laid out so that it’s easy to follow – it takes you from the falls to through the main garden and up to the Lost World, the Cloud Walk, the Treetop Walk, and then back down to the Crystal Mountain. Finally, you visit the Secret Garden on your way out. This was hands down my favorite of the locations that we visited. I loved everything from the Lego plant sculptures, to the Jurassic Park-style displays, to the teeny-tiny orchids that were visible through magnifying lenses. 

The Flower Dome

In comparison to the Cloud Forest, the Flower Dome is much larger, though the displays are spread out horizontally rather than the vertical arrangement in the Cloud Forest. Both locations have breathtaking wood sculptures, but the dragon in the Flower Dome was certainly my favourite. The flower dome has diplays organized by region. There’s the Meditteranean Garden, the California Garden, the Succulent Garden, the Australian Garden, the South African Garden, and the South American Garden. There’s also an Olive Garden, a Flower Field, and a Baobab tree area. 

The OCBC Skywalk

The OCBC Skywalk is a 128-meter walk 22-meters above the ground. The walk gives you a view of the gardens and the bay, but because we did this during the afternoon, we missed out on getting to see the spectacular light show that they put on at night. 

Depending on what you do in the gardens, your trip can either be 100% free or rather expensive. Entry into each of the domes has its own fee as does the Supertree Grove. Honestly, the Cloud Forest was my favorite of the three exhibits we visited, so I definitely felt it was worth the cost. The other two, however, I definitely could have skipped. You can get much better views of Singapore elsewhere (the Supertree Grove is a short walk and the views are just okay) and the Flower Dome, while it had an amazingly diverse collection of plant life just didn’t seem as impressive as the Cloud Forest.

Pro Tips for Visiting the Gardens by the Bay

Bring plenty of water – depending on how much you explore/wander the area, you’ll experience pretty warm weather, be sure to stay hydrated
Wear comfortable shoes – you’ll do plenty of walking!
Dress comfortably – and note that some of the walkways are mesh metal, so there will be people under you
Plan for about half a day – or a few hours to really explore

Gardens by the Bay

18 Marina Gardens Drive

Singapore 018953

What about you?

What parks or gardens have you visited in your travels?

I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.

The post Gardens by the Bay appeared first on Eurolinguiste.

Doing More in Your Language Studies with Less | Another Look at Minimalist Language Learning

This past year has been a year of simplifying. Of creating better processes for my studies and my work. And of decluttering my physical and mental spaces.

It’s worked quite well for me, but there was one realm I avoided. The digital.

Visualizing just how many physical objects you’re dealing with is easy. You can take all of your books off your shelves and pile them on the floor. Take all of your flashcards and store them in a box.

Digital possessions, however, are a little more difficult to sort because they’re different formats and can be found in different places.

I’ve tried on and off with little success to get my digital life in order. I’ve read tons of articles, tried out numerous apps, and at one point, even tried to Konmari my digital spaces.

I took every document, file and program and dumped it into a hard drive that I could then organize from scratch. I made a good start, but in all honesty, that drive is still a huge mess.

For the most part, this didn’t really bother me.

Until it did.

Language Learning Methods in the Digital Age

A few years ago, my language learning was 100% offline. I had course books, flashcards and in-person courses that served as my complete language learning routine.

But then I discovered apps. Then websites. Then online courses. Then tutoring platforms like iTalki (which came with tutors who provided their own study materials). Maybe not necessarily in that order, but you get the point.

In shifting some of my learning online, I discovered other bloggers who share their learning methods and who make their own resource recommendations. It quickly became a test – how many could I try? Which were the best? Do I have them all?

I wanted to be as thorough as possible in my learning and worried that I was missing out on having the best resources. The best tools. The best strategies.

I spent so much time collecting, gathering, and researching methods and materials that I no longer had the time to actually study the language(s) itself.

Something had to give.

Despite studying several hours each week, I felt overwhelmed. Not by the language itself, no. But by the sheer number of resources I hadn’t gotten to yet. It made me feel guilty.

As though I wasn’t doing enough or that I wasn’t learning fast enough.

But that was never the issue.

I Am My Own Best Language Learning Method

You see, all of these tools, resources, and strategies, they are all just things. They may be digital, but they can still be clutter.

Especially if they’re keeping you from doing the real work.

Those things are just there to help me learn the language. They won’t do the work for me. Having fifty books instead of five doesn’t mean that I know ten times more of the language. In fact, a lot of the material in those fifty books may be the same.

When I finally accepted this, and it took longer than I’m proud to admit, I knew I needed to make a change. The language learning materials I had were no longer helping me learn my languages. Instead, they were preventing me from focusing on them because I was overwhelmed by them.

I decided to simplify.

Step 1 Simplifying Physical Resources

I know I said that my primary problem was the number of digital resources that I had, but I knew that I couldn’t sort through them until I had tackled my physical resources.

Working with language learning books that I can hold in my hands is still my preferred method of study, so I knew I needed to work through my physical materials first in order to tackle my digital resources, so this is where I started.

I debated which method would work best for me:

* The Minimalist Packing Party // My understanding of the Minimalist Packing party would be that I take all of my language books and materials and pack them up into boxes. As I need them, I’m allowed to remove them, use them and return them to their homes on my shelves. Those still in the boxes after 90 days are donated, sold or disposed of.

* The KonMari Method // This method is a little more extreme, but it’s what I’ve used on a more general scale for my non-sentimental/language related belongings. It requires that you take all of your learning materials, pile them on the floor, then pick them up one by one to determine if they “spark joy”. If they do, then you can keep them and organize them properly on your shelves. If they don’t, then they are sold, donated, or disposed of.

* Get Rid of One // This method allows you to slowly work through your items so that you aren’t overwhelmed with having to decide all at once. The idea is that you get rid of one thing each day.

* Closet Hanger Method // Using this method, you would turn all of your books and learning materials away from you. This means the spine of the book would face the wall. You turn the books and materials back the right way as you use them. Anything still facing the wrong way after a pre-determined amount of time is minimized. This is similar to the Packing party method, but it doesn’t involve cluttering your space with a large number of boxes while you work through everything.

I ended up on using a mix of methods in order to pare things down to what I needed and wanted to keep. I started with the Konmari method, piling all of my materials on the floor and going through them. I immediately donated everything I decided not to hang on to so that I couldn’t change my mind.

This included:

* Chinese books written in the Traditional writing system (I had purchased them before I realized that Chinese had more than one writing system).

* French readers that were always below my level but that I had hung onto just in case

* Books in my target languages that I had purchased just because they’re hard to find here in the States and so I wanted to take advantage of the fact that they were available to me

* Books in my target language about things that I’m not interested in

After working through my books this way, I then set about organizing them. But instead of doing this normally, I implemented the Hanger Method and put everything I wanted to keep back on the shelves facing the wrong way. This then showed me the materials I was actually using.

From there, I used the Get Rid of One method. Each day, I selected a book or tool that was still reversed and decided whether or not I wanted to keep it. I made it a goal to find at least one each day that I might not use (until the number was reduced to the resources I knew with absolute certainty that I’d use).

Lessons learned:

* Don’t buy materials until you’re ready for them. You may end up buying more than you need, buy things and then forget that you have them (so they end up being below your level before you remember that you had them available to you), or buying things that aren’t right (the wrong writing system).

* Don’t buy materials unless they fill a need that you have. If you’re struggling with something in particular, look for a resource that helps you overcome it. Don’t buy a book because it’s one you don’t yet have and that will *maybe* include something you need. Save your hard earned money for something that helps you with something you specifically need help with.

* Don’t spend money on materials that you won’t use just because they are available to you. If you don’t like reading a certain kind of book, don’t buy it just because it’s in your target language. Trust me. It will just sit on the shelf. You may make it through a few pages, but not much more than that. And it may even cause you to feel frustrated or burnt out over your language.

After I went through my physical resources, I noticed an immediate difference in my study habits.

The first was that having the space on my desk made me more likely to use it. Before I went through all of my materials, I had stacks of books on my desk that I wanted to work through. But rather than actually working through them, they just piled up and got in my way.

Typically, when I study, I take notes by hand. Not having space on my desk to open up a book and a notebook to write in meant that I stopped taking notes and just read through resources. And that meant I retained far less of what I read. Taking notes digitally or just doing the exercises in my head just doesn’t work well for me.

After getting back my “proper” study space, my retention immediately went up because I was able to pick up my time-tested study methods.

The other difference that I noticed was that I felt so much less overwhelmed. I no longer had this huge pile of materials on my desk that made me feel guilty. Instead, I had a well-curated collection of textbooks, course books and reading material that I was excited to work through.

Step 2 Minimizing Digital Resources

But then came the great challenge.

According to the KonMari method, you want to start with the easier tasks first in order to build up the skills you need to take on the more challenging minimizing. And I’m glad I took her advice.

When you think about it, most digital resources don’t have a pricetag attached to them. They’re just a small amount of space on your hard drive or a link in your bookmarks. They don’t – relatively – cost you anything, so they accumulate quickly.

And because of that, they can easily bury you.

There’s less emotional attachment when it comes to digital resources, so it seems like they’d be the easier thing to take on. But this isn’t the case. Because you’re not as attached to your digital possessions, you tend to save more and then manage them poorly in comparison. Sorting through them, weeding out the unnecessary and organizing the important becomes an almost insurmountable task when you’re looking at thousands, maybe tens of thousands (and in my case when you count photographs, hundreds of thousands) of files, bookmarks, and emails.

Of course, you may be the exception to this rule. If you are – bravo. I admire you, especially because I wasn’t.

If I felt overwhelmed by my physical resources, there are no words for what I felt for my digital resources. And just the idea weeding through them, was immensely intimidating. And a huge part of why I avoided the task for so long.

Again, I started simply.

My first step? I cleaned up my to-do list.

On my to-do list, I have the task “study language” setup for every day. It’s not because I need to be reminded to study each day, but it’s a little motivation boost each day I’m able to cross it off.

But my to-do quickly became a place for me to store digital resources I wanted to work through (because I would get to cross them off). So rather than having one “study language” for each day, I had dozens. This collection of things I wanted to work through that transferred to the following day for months on end because I didn’t cross them off the day before.

And that’s on top of the files collected on my computer, the websites saved in my bookmarks and the resources I have saved in a dozen other places (like my Youtube queue, the Facebook save option, emails, etc.).

I knew that dumping all of these things into one general folder wouldn’t work. I’d already tried that. So instead, I decided to sort things correctly from the start. Well, second start.

How I minimized my digital language learning clutter.

Step One to Organizing Your Digital Language Learning Resources

I started using Asana with the launch of one of my courses. It was this thing that I had an account for, but didn’t fully utilize. When I took a look at the resources I had saved in email, on Google drive, in Dropbox, in Evernote, on my to-do list and in other places on my computer, I knew that I had to do something to consolidate everything.

Asana seemed like the perfect place. Not only could I upload my PDFs, but I could also create resource checklists (that way I’d know what I tried and what I hadn’t).

To start, I created an Asana project, built Kanban boards for each language and started to delete things from the other places I had them stored as I added them to Asana.

Very quickly, I had an organized database with my favorite links, PDF files, and lists of resources I’d like to try in the future. Suddenly, I had a very manageable and enjoyable place to plan out my next steps and language projects.

Step Two to Organizing Your Digital Language Learning Resources

Once I had everything in one place, I was able to decide what I was going to keep and what I was going to minimize. I could look through my lists of resources and decide “okay, I saved that when I was first starting, but now, it’s too easy for me, so I’m not going to keep this one” or “oh, that’s a great tool, I’m going to move it up in priority on my list so that’s what I tackle next.”

My collection of resources quickly became a more well-rounded and suitable selection based on my level and needs in each of my languages.

Step Three to Organizing Your Digital Language Learning Resources

I processed the materials and notes that I never dealt with because they got buried under all the clutter.

In dealing with my materials, I found old notes and documents that I could quickly reduce into fewer documents or add to my flashcards and then delete. By adding vocabulary lists or lesson notes I had saved to Memrise (rather than having them as tons of separate documents), I could actively work on that information rather than have it sit in a file that I never looked at.

I was also able to add questions and struggles I had for each language to my Next Lesson: Asana board so that I could follow up on the things I needed to work on.

Lessons Learned:

* Storing everything in one place makes the next step that easier to take because it’s clearer what it might be

* You save time and energy by managing everything from one location

* It’s easier to work through my to-do list when it only contains specific tasks and not collections of things I’d like to get to

To Sum Up

A big part of making language learning easier is in simplifying the process. The more organized you are and the less clutter you have (either digital or physical), the easier it is to be focused on your studies.

I wrote earlier on why I feel minimalism is an important part of my language learning routine, but the more I reduce and focus, the more success I’m seeing with my studies.

What about you?

Do you have better study results when you minimize or do you feel more energized when you surround yourself with language materials?

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

The post Doing More in Your Language Studies with Less | Another Look at Minimalist Language Learning appeared first on Eurolinguiste.